Over 600k Driver’s Licenses in 2015 to Illegal Aliens

In 2015, 605,000 licenses were issued to illegal aliens in California — two-thirds of them issued in the first six months of the year.

The road for illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses was paved in October 2013, when Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 60 into law. The Orange County Register reported in January that approximately 830,000 “undocumented applicants” had applied for the licenses since Jan. 2, 2015,

The immigrants’ licenses are emblazoned with “federal limits apply,” which means other states’ law enforcement officers and federal officials do not have to regard them as valid forms of identification, according to the Los Angeles Times. 12 states now offer driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.; 22% of illegal immigrants in the nation reside in California, the largest percentage in the country.

Prior to the passage of AB 60, the California DMV hired 1,000 temporary employees and opened four more processing centers to aid the influx of new applicants. The DMV has returned to regular office hours; 200 of the temporary employees will retain their jobs this year.

Ann Coil, Santa Ana Tea Party Patriots coordinator, told the Register, “It certainly overloads the system. And, again, we’re giving priority to people who aren’t citizens. There is concern in this country, and it’s reflected in this election, that there’s more compassion for people who are not citizens than those who are.”

DMV Director Jean Shiomoto said in a press release: “DMV committed to successfully implementing this new law to increase safety on California’s roads by putting licensed drivers behind the steering wheel. One year after AB 60 implementation there are 605,000 more drivers on the road who have passed all testing requirements and demonstrated their knowledge of California’s rules of the road.”